1925 Miami tornado

1925 Miami tornado
Wreckage in Hialeah after the storm
Meteorological history
FormedApril 5, 1925, 1:00 p.m. EST (UTC−05:00)
DissipatedApril 5, 1925, 2:00 p.m. EST (UTC−05:00)
F3 tornado (unofficial)
on the Fujita scale
Max width~440 yards (400 m)
Path length12 miles (19 km)
Satellite tornadoes
Tornadoes3
Maximum ratingFU tornado
Overall effects
Fatalities5
Injuries35
Damage$250,000 ($4,590,000 in 2025 USD)[a]
Areas affected
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1925

On Sunday, April 5, 1925, an intense tornado hit the northern edge of Miami in South Florida, killing five people and injuring 35. The deadliest tornado to affect Dade County, it was rated F3 on the Fujita scale—one of only two such twisters recorded with that intensity.[b] About 200 yd (180 m) wide,[c] it formed over the Everglades near Hialeah and moved northeast, toward the Atlantic Ocean, destroying about 75 homes, with losses of $250,000. Over 500 people lost their homes, and five fatalities were reported, along with 35 injuries. The first twister seen by weather officials in Miami since 1919, it coexisted with at least three satellite tornadoes and may have been a tornado family. It was one of a handful of Florida tornadoes to claim three or more lives. Huge hail accompanied the tornado as well.

Climatological background

Tornadoes are more densely packed in Florida than any other U.S. state, as shown by rates per 10,000 mi2 (26,000 km2).[7] Most are weak, brief, thin, and rarely fatal, causing fewer deaths than their amount or human population imply.[8][9] Only 0.7% attain the strongest, or violent (E/F4+), tier, versus 2.7% in Tornado Alley.[10] Strong (E/F2+) or intense (E/F3+) events rarely hit South Florida,[11] tending to favor robust El Niño years,[12] due to elevated front and cyclone activity inducing wintertime storminess.[d][14][15] Conversely, in 1925 La Niña was ongoing.[12] Deadly Florida tornadoes usually occur in outbreaks, or clusters,[e][18] whereas the 1925 twister formed singly.[19] Apart from a hurricane-borne twister in 1919, it was also the only other tornado in Miami or its environs to be noted by the Weather Bureau since it opened a local office in 1911;[20] the 1919 event was retroactively rated F2 on the Fujita scale by tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis and caused no deaths.[f][25] However, many fewer tornadoes, mainly weak, were likely verified before 1950, due to lower population densities; large tracts of South Florida, notably the Everglades, are still thinly settled,[11][26] but with rising tornado reports over time due to more people and remote sensors used to plot tornadoes, such as modern weather radar.[27][28]

Meteorological synopsis

The catalyst for the tornado lay in a low-pressure area traceable to northern California that crossed the Southern United States in early April, reaching Florida's First Coast with rains over a wide swath on April 5.[29] A potent thunderstorm formed near Homestead, 30 mi (48 km) below Miami, and slid northeastward,[30] hitting nearby towns such as Goulds, Perrine, Florida City, and Princeton. Heavy rains fell in its path, with loud thunder and vivid lightning signaling its arrival.[31] Around 12:50 p.m. local time, players at a golf links in Hialeah noticed unique, rotary cloud motions,[32]: 2-A  depicted as a turbulent, clashing mass.[33]: 1-A  About 10 minutes later,[34] a cone-like funnel cloud descended on the course,[32]: 1-A  preceded by baseball-sized hail;[35] Weather Bureau official Richard W. Gray traced its origin to the Everglades,[20][34] as did other observers including Hialeah Herald editor J. W. Wendler.[32]: 1-A [36]: A-2  The storm seemingly emerged along an outflow boundary within the prevailing air flow, as shown by station data from Miami.[37] It tracked as far as Fort Lauderdale, striking the communities of Hialeah, Lemon City, Little River, Biscayne Park, and Ojus.[30] Attendant hail lasted 10–15 minutes, coating the ground with fist-sized stones in places such as Miami Shores.[32]: 2-A 

Tornado summary

I saw the roof of a building over by the golf course lifted straight into the air and carried at least 200 feet away. There was a terrific bang, as if there had been an explosion inside the house. It was as if a huge high-speed derrick had slung the roof off.

Tornadogenesis took place over the Hialeah municipal golf course near 1:00 p.m.[32]: 1-A  Writing in the Monthly Weather Review, Gray noted that it resembled a "very slender cone extending in a straight line" from cloud to ground.[34] The tornado first unroofed a shed, hurled a few trucks, and snagged a clubhouse post. Pieces of the roof were found 300 yd (270 m) away, and a mule was fatally blown into the side of its pen. A roller and wagons were tossed onto fairways. Flying debris injured a caddy, but not gravely.[32]: 2–3-A  Heading northeast, the twister tore stables,[32]: 2-A  roofs, and shrubbery.[33]: 1-A [35] As it swirled past, many thousand people swarmed the area in vehicles to approach the slow-moving funnel, piqued by its high visibility and threatening skies. Due to heavy traffic, multiple vehicle collisions occurred. Seen around for miles,[32]: 1–2-A [34] the tornado averaged 20 mph (32 km/h) at times,[36]: A-2  with an erratic, undulating motion that kindled rumors of multiple twisters.[37] Up to four tornadoes were alleged, with as many as seven funnel sightings.[32]: 2–3-A  A waterspout formed on Biscayne Bay at the same time as the tornado.[32]: 1-A  The twister repeatedly skipped, damaging scattered areas. One area was near the Miami Canal, where the tornado seemed to unravel and redevelop.[32]: 1–2-A 

Tornado deaths
Name Age Source(s)
F. E. ("Red") Sullivan 35 [32]: 1-A 
John Watson Simpson 8 [38]
Mathilda Schultz 70 [32]: 1-A 
Mrs. John T. Simpson N/a [38]
Unknown N/a [37][39]

It then hit the White Belt Dairy,[32]: 1–2-A  the state's biggest in 1925.[30] Most casualties ensued there,[32]: 1–2-A  along with losses over $200,000,[36]: A-1  the worst in the storm area.[32]: 1–2-A  Heavy debris, such as lumber, was churned up over a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) radius by swirling winds, turning the farm into a "scrambled mess of everything" according to the Miami Herald. Furniture, utensils, and woodchips cluttered the ground. Vehicles were mangled and tossed up to 1⁄4 mi (0.40 km) away; listed as totaled were five cars and 10 motor trucks. Fierce winds leveled a mess hall, an apartment, and four frame homes. A barn roof was partly peeled off, and another barn sustained damage. Three cows were airborne for 50 ft (15 m) at a height of 15 ft (4.6 m) but survived uninjured.[40] Five others went missing, two died of wounds, and two more were so badly maimed that they were shot.[36]: A-1  Flying debris fatally hospitalized a woman, and other people suffered severe injuries. A police cordon kept away hundreds of gawkers.[40] Wrapped in smoky debris clouds, the tornado halted briefly at the dairy, then resumed its course.[37] A nearby restaurant was leveled, killing a man, and a cookstove was tossed 100 yd (91 m).[39]

The tornado then hit Elizabeth Park, leveling roughly 10 homes, leaving homesites bare, and killing hundreds of chickens. One house lost its combination roof and garage. A dozen more homes were destroyed in nearby Hillside Acres, with only three others intact. Multiple homes were carried at least 300 ft (91 m),[32]: 1-A, 2-A [30] along with a barn.[40]: 2-A  Near Little River, the twister flattened a large, vacant frame home and the Westwood Inn,[40]: 2-A [33]: 1-A  killing two people at the inn.[41][30] One other death occurred nearby.[32]: 1  Six other homes were struck as well,[36]: A-2  one of which was tossed into another house, shattering a brick wall.[40]: 2-A  As it crossed northern Miami, the funnel widened to about 1⁄4 mi (0.40 km),[36]: A-2  becoming rain-obscured over time.[37] In Biscayne Park, it destroyed three homes and damaged a few automobiles. A newly-built, two-story stucco home lost most of its walls,[32]: 1–2-A  and large roof pieces were entangled in trees. The tornado also uprooted large trees.[33]: 3-A  After destroying some power poles,[37] the tornado moved out over Biscayne Bay near Arch Creek and was no longer sighted.[33]: 3-A [32]: 1-A  Its 12-mile (19 km) path lasted about an hour,[37] with a mean width of 200 yd (180 m).[36]: A-2 

Aftermath

Along its path the tornado killed five people and injured 35 others.[39] It tore apart 75 homes, including about 25 in or near Elizabeth Park,[32]: 1-A, 2-A  leaving more than 500 people homeless.[36]: A-1  Property losses totaled $250,000,[39] with cleanup costs of about $1 million. The Miami Order of Elks loaned $10,000 in relief aid, and 100 workers cleared debris at the White Belt Dairy. The aftermath drew as many as 30,000 sightseers a day.[36]: A-1  Many cars were stranded by motorists and wrecked during the storm.[37] Based on damage photographs,[11] the tornado is estimated to have been an F3 on the Fujita scale,[39] the only other such tornado to hit Miami having occurred in 1959; to date it is the only deadly twister to strike Dade County,[12] belonging to a small group of tornadoes that have killed three or more people in Florida.[42]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ All losses are in 1925 United States dollars unless otherwise noted.
  2. ^ Tornadoes in the United States were unrated before 1971.[1][2] Ratings were retroactively applied to events prior to the formal adoption of the F-scale by the National Weather Service. While official ratings extended back to 1950, tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis rated older events.[3]
  3. ^ For the width the average/mean is used. Most tornado widths listed from 1952–1994 are mean values, whereas maxima are used in contemporary years.[4] Data given by Grazulis are approximate averages (i.e., 0.5 mi (0.80 km) is adjusted from 880 yards to 800 yards).[5][6]
  4. ^ The Florida dry season (November–April) corresponds to winter.[13]
  5. ^ Outbreaks involve at least four to six tornadoes within defined timescales, often six-hour increments, though numbers vary by region. In Florida the lower bound fixes an outbreak, using four-hour intervals.[16][17]
  6. ^ A group of scientists under Ted Fujita invented the scale in the early 1970s, prior to which no official rating method existed in the United States.[1][2] Events that arose before the use of the scale by the National Weather Service gained ratings in hindsight.[21] While since replaced in the U.S. by the Enhanced Fujita scale as of February 1, 2007,[22] it was in use in Canada until April 1, 2013;[23] other nations, including the United Kingdom, employ alternate schemes such as the TORRO scale.[24]

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
  2. ^ a b Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
  3. ^ Edwards et al. 2013, p. 641–643.
  4. ^ Agee & Childs, p. 1494.
  5. ^ Brooks, p. 310.
  6. ^ Grazulis 1990, p. ix.
  7. ^ "Tornadoes". Florida Climate Center. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  8. ^ Donegan, Brian (March 21, 2022). "Where are tornadoes most common?". FOX Weather. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  9. ^ Winsberg 1990, pp. 68–70.
  10. ^ Winsberg 2003, p. 90.
  11. ^ a b c Gregoria, Dan. "WFO Miami, Florida severe weather climatology" (PDF). NWS Forecast Office Miami - South Florida. Miami: National Weather Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Lushine, James B. (November 1, 2005). "Summary of Severe Weather Outbreak in South Florida: February 2, 1998". NWS Forecast Office Miami - South Florida. Miami: National Weather Service. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  13. ^ Hagemeyer, Bartlett C. (August 10, 2010). "Florida Dry Season Forecast and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)". Melbourne, FL Weather Forecast Office. Melbourne, Florida: National Weather Service. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  14. ^ Hagemeyer, Barlett C. (2000). Written at Melbourne, Florida. Development of an index of storminess as a proxy for dry season severe weather in Florida and its relationship with ENSO (PDF). 20th Conference on Severe Local Storms. Orlando, Florida: National Weather Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  15. ^ Hagemeyer, Barlett C. (1998). Written at Melbourne, Florida. Significant Extratropical Tornado Occurrences in Florida During Strong El Niño and Strong La Niña Events (PDF). 19th Conference on Severe Local Storms. Minneapolis: National Weather Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  16. ^ Hagemeyer, pp. 399, 400–1, 404.
  17. ^ Hagemeyer, Bartlett C.; Spratt, Scott M. (2002). Written at Melbourne, Florida. Thirty Years After Hurricane Agnes: the Forgotten Florida Tornado Disaster (PDF). 25th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology. San Diego, California: American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  18. ^ Hagemeyer, p. 405.
  19. ^ Gray.
  20. ^ a b "Tornado Is Explained". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. April 6, 1925. p. 2-A – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Edwards et al. 2013, p. 641–642.
  22. ^ Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  23. ^ "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  24. ^ "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  25. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 765.
  26. ^ Hagemeyer, p. 403.
  27. ^ Agee & Childs, p. 1496.
  28. ^ Cook & Schaefer, p. 3135.
  29. ^ Written at Washington, D.C.. "Disturbance Moved Across The Continent in Six Days". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. Miami (published April 6, 1925). April 5, 1925. p. 3-A – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ a b c d e Written at Miami. "Three Perish, Heavy Damage in Tornado Near Miami, Florida". Portsmouth Daily Times. Portsmouth, Ohio. United Press. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Little Damage Reported From Neighboring Towns". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. April 6, 1925. p. 3-A – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "3 Dead; 34 Hurt". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. April 6, 1925. p. 1-A – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ a b c d e "29 Homes Destroyed, 4 Dead". Miami Tribune. Vol. 2, no. 52. April 6, 1925. p. 1-A – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ a b c d Gray, p. 145.
  35. ^ a b c "Story of the tornado as told by Arthur Pryor". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. Miami. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h i "$10,000 Given by Elks to Aid Relief Plans". Miami Daily News. Vol. 30, no. 113. April 6, 1925. p. A-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ a b c d e f g h Gray, p. 146.
  38. ^ a b "Tornado Dead and Injured". Miami Daily News. Vol. 30, no. 113. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ a b c d e Grazulis 1993, p. 797.
  40. ^ a b c d e "Dairy farm hit". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. Miami. April 6, 1925. p. 1-A – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "Florida Tornado Takes Toll of 4 Lives on Sunday". La Crosse Tribune. Vol. 20, no. 324. Associated Press. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris (April 26, 2000). "The United States' Worst Tornadoes". The Tornado Project. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
Sources
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